Progressive, severe scoliosis can produce three major problems:
- If the part of the spine that's in the chest, called the thoracic spine, curves more than 90 percent, the volume of the chest can be reduced so much that the function of the heart and lungs may be compromised. The heart may have to work harder to pump the normal volume of blood, or the child may have difficulty breathing.
- Severe curvature of the lower half of the spine that connects the chest with the pelvis, known as the lumbar spine, may push the contents of the abdomen against the chest and interfere indirectly with heart and lung function. Curvature of the lumbar spine may also alter sitting balance and posture.
- Severe curvature of either the thoracic or the lumbar spine, or both, eventually becomes visible to others. The resulting tilting and twisting of the back, shoulders and pelvis may produce an appearance that the patient finds unacceptable. Since the most common scenario for idiopathic scoliosis (scoliosis whose cause is unknown) is a girl at around the time of puberty, when body image is developing hand-in-hand with self-esteem, the condition can pose significant psychological and emotional challenges.
Idiopathic scoliosis usually isn't painful. About 30 percent of patients with scoliosis have back pain, which is the same percentage found in children without scoliosis. There are certain exceptions in which an associated disease of the central nervous system, such as a fluid collection in the spinal cord, may produce pain as well as scoliosis.
Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.
Last updated July 14, 2010
